Facebook Notify is an all new app that does surprisingly little

November 11, 2015

Called Notify, the standalone app from Facebook will send push notifications from "stations," that interest you. You can choose to receive information from sites like FOX Sports, CNN, The Weather Channel, Fandango, and even meditation app Headspace.

According to Facebook, whenever there are "relevant updates," stations will send you a push notification, which will link you to the site in Notify's browser. You can save or share notifications directly from the lock screen.

Notify isn't the first application to take advantage of lock screen real estate for notifications. Startup Notifo delivered push notifications from companies and organizations you were interested, but shuttered in 2011 after failing to grow its user base. And Yo, the frequently joked about messaging app, launched the Yo Store, nearly identical to Notify, in February. Yo rode a wild wave of vitality, but has since fallen into relative obscurity.

Facebook's push notification factory is the company's latest standalone app that is strikingly similar to apps already in existence.

Slingshot and Poke both mirrored Snapchat, and Paper reminded everyone of Flipboard. And yet, beyond Facebook proper and Messenger, the company's standalone apps have not managed to do much more than get people talking about their initial launches.

Perhaps originality really is dead.

Notify is available for iPhone users in the U.S., but the company didn't say when it might be available on other platforms.